Crave TV Available to All Canadians Starting January 1st

Bell announced yesterday that begining January 1st, 2016, its CraveTV streaming service will be available to all Canadians across the country.

Currently, CraveTV is only available to subscribers of cable TV service with providers such as Bell, Eastlink, SaskTel and Telus.

Launched as a competitor to Rogers-Shaw streaming collaboration Shomi (itself positioned as a Netflix competitor), CraveTV does have some advantages over its opponents.

For example, CraveTV offers exclusive access to HBO’s programming catalogue, including critic and fan favourites such as The Wire, The Sopranos and Sex and the City, and it has exclusive rights to past seasons of Seinfeld and South Park. Also on the roster (though not exclusive) are popular and currently on-air shows such as The Affair, Penny Dreadful, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Homeland and Orphan Black.

While CraveTV is currently available as a $4/month add-on to an existing cable package, there is no word on what pricing will look like once it becomes a standalone service. At the time of this writing, Netflix and Shomi are both charging $8.99/month, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see CraveTV follow in their footsteps come January 1st.